Bill Decker’s list: Five Acadiana tribes

The name by which this tribe is known is described in several sources as Choctaw, a slur that means “man-eater,” but there’s no evidence of truth in it. They called themselves the “Ishaks,” meaning “the people.” They inhabited the Gulf Coast of southwest Louisiana — the “Sunrise People” — and southeast Texas — the “Sunset People.” Atakapa died out as a spoken language at the turn of the 20th century, but Atakapa descendant Hugh Singleton, who died in 2009, has been honored for his efforts to obtain official recognition for the tribe.

2. Opelousa

The Opelousa tribe may have been an offshoot of the Atakapa. But by the time of the European settlement, the Opelousa were a much smaller group. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism says that by 1814, small pox and typhus had reduced the size of the tribe to 20 warriors, who were pushed out by other tribes and by white expansion.

3. Coushatta

Culturally, the Coushattas are a Muskogean tribe with roots farther to the east. After a series of moves in response to European expansion, the Coushattas broke away from the Creek Confederacy and moved to south Louisiana. Unlike their neighbors the Atakapas, the Coushattas were farmers, primarily of corn.

4. Chitimacha

The Chitimacha, with a language related to the Tunica-Biloxi tribes, moved into south Louisiana 1,500 years ago, settling along rivers and in swamps. One group lived along the Teche, which means “snake” in the Chitimacha language. Warfare with European white people reduced the tribe’s numbers in the 18th century.

5. Houma

Another tribe of the Muskogean language family, the Houma were living near the juncture of the Mississippi and Red rivers when the French arrived, and in the 18th century moved south into Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. Today, the Houma are one of the larger Louisiana tribes with 17,000 members.